Portuguese version: https://repositorio.inesctec.pt/editais/pt/AE2026-0286.pdf

CALL FOR GRANT APPLICATIONS (AE2026-0286)

INESC TEC is now accepting grant applications to award 1 Research Grant (BI) within the scope of the OCEAN_FCT funded by National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., project reference .

1. GRANT DESCRIPTION

Type of grant: Research Grant (BI)

General scientific area: ENGINEERING

Scientific subarea: Electrical engineering

Grant duration: 12 months, starting on 2027-01-01 , with the possibility of being renewed for a maximum term of four years, in the cases of students enrolled in a PhD.

Scientific advisor: Hugo Miguel Silva

Workplace: INESC TEC, Porto, Portugal

Maintenance stipend: 1359.64, according to the table of monthly maintenance stipend for FCT grants (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM_atu…), paid via bank transfer. Grant holders may be awarded potential supplements, according to a quarterly evaluation process (Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the Regulations for Grants of INESC TEC and Annex II), up to a maximum limit of 50 of the monthly maintenance stipend.

INESC TEC supports costs with registration, enrolment or tuition fees, during the grant duration, under the terms established in the internal document: "Payment of Tuition fees to grant holders" (https://www.inesctec.pt/pagamento-propinas-bolseirosEN)

The grant holder will benefit from health insurance, supported by INESC TEC.

2. OBJECTIVES:

Support researchers in the fields of knowledge described in this call, who intend to carry out research activities leading to the award of a doctoral degree. Part of the research activities must be carried out at INESC TEC, as applicable.

3. BRIEF PRESENTATION OF THE WORK PROGRAMME AND TRAINING:

Multi-Robot Autonomous Navigation in GNSS Denied Enviroments).;
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Autonomous navigation in GNSS-denied environments remains a major challenge for robotic systems due to localisation drift, perceptual degradation, limited situational awareness, and communication constraints. These challenges become particularly relevant in ocean environments, where reliable GNSS coverage may be unavailable or degraded, environmental conditions are highly dynamic, and autonomous platforms must operate for extended periods with limited external infrastructure.;
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This PhD scholarship will focus on developing cooperative autonomous navigation methods for teams of robotic platforms operating in GNSS-denied environments, with particular emphasis on applications in ocean and maritime settings. The research will investigate how multiple autonomous agents can cooperate by sharing complementary sensing and localisation information to improve navigation accuracy, robustness, and resilience.;
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The research will explore multimodal perception and localisation architectures that combine sensors such as cameras, inertial measurement units, acoustic sensing, radar, and inter-agent ranging technologies. Depending on the operational scenario, additional sensing modalities relevant to maritime environments may also be considered. Sensor fusion techniques will be developed to provide reliable localisation, mapping, obstacle detection, and situational awareness under challenging conditions, including changing illumination, adverse weather, wave-induced motion, limited visibility, and sparse environmental features.;
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A central research topic will be the development of distributed and cooperative localisation and SLAM frameworks. These methods will enable multiple autonomous platforms to exchange local observations, relative measurements, and map information in order to maintain consistent estimates of their positions and surroundings without relying on GNSS or fixed external infrastructure. The PhD will also investigate cooperative navigation strategies involving heterogeneous robotic systems, potentially including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs), and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Cooperation between aerial, surface, and underwater platforms can provide complementary sensing capabilities and enable persistent monitoring, inspection, mapping, and exploration of complex ocean environments.;
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>From a scientific and technological perspective, the proposed methods will be evaluated not only in terms of localisation and navigation accuracy, but also with respect to computational efficiency, scalability, communication requirements, robustness, and real-time feasibility. Algorithms will therefore be designed with deployment on embedded and edge computing platforms in mind, considering the energy and computational constraints of autonomous robotic systems.;
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Learning-based and self-supervised approaches may also be investigated to improve perception, sensor fusion, and adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Such methods can enable autonomous systems to adjust their navigation strategies to different sensing conditions and operational scenarios while reducing their dependence on extensive manually labelled datasets.;
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The proposed approaches will be validated through simulation and experimental trials involving realistic GNSS-denied scenarios, with a particular focus on ocean and maritime applications. Potential applications include marine environmental monitoring, offshore infrastructure inspection, search and rescue, oceanographic data collection, cooperative exploration, and persistent surveillance.;

4. REQUIRED PROFILE:

Admission requirements:
Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering or a related scientific field.
The awarding of the fellowship is dependent on the applicants' enrolment in study cycle or non-award courses of Higher Education Institutions.

Preference factors:
The candidate's experience will be especially valued in one of the following research lines: Experience in Computer Vision, Cooperative Navigation, Robotics & Artificial Intelligence.

Minimum requirements:
• Hold a Master’s degree in (Electrical/Electronic and Computer Engineering) or a related field, with valorization in (Robotics and/or Autonomous Systems) or a related field, and have a scientific and professional CV that demonstrates a suitable profile for the activities to be carried out.
• Not have previously been awarded a doctoral grant or a doctoral grant in companies directly funded by FCT, regardless of its duration.
• Reside permanently and habitually in Portugal at the start date of the period of the work plan to be carried out abroad, should the proposed work plan include a period at foreign institutions (mixed grants). This requirement applies to both Portuguese and foreign citizens.
• Not hold a doctoral degree.

5. EVALUATION OF APPLICATIONS AND SELECTION PROCESS:

Selection criteria and corresponding valuation: the first phase comprises the Academic Evaluation (AC), based on the criteria referred to in Article 12 of the Regulations for Grants of INESC TEC, while the second phase comprehends the Individual Interview (EI).
All factors are evaluated on a scale of 0 to 100, taking into account the applicants' merit, suitability and conformity with the preference factors.
The weight of the AC factors are as follows: Academic Qualifications (FA, 50), Scientific Publications (PC, 20), Experience (EX, 20) and Motivation Letter (CM, 10).
Candidates who score less than 50 points in the AC average will be considered excluded on absolute merit. The top five candidates approved on absolute merit will be qualified for the individual interview. The Final Grade (CF) is obtained by the weighted average of AC (80) and EI (20).

DISABILITY INCENTIVE

Candidates who present a degree of disability equal to or greater than 90% will benefit from an incentive (20) in the score of the CV Assessment.
Candidates who present a degree of disability equal to or greater than 60% and less than 90% will also benefit from an incentive (10) in the score of the CV Assessment.
Said score may, in these cases, exceed 100 points.
Candidates must demonstrate the degree of disability during the application, namely through the submission of the Multi-Purpose Medical Certificate of Disability, issued in accordance with Decree-Law no. 202/96, of October 23 - currently in effect.

The Selection Jury is composed of the following members:
President of the Jury: Eduardo Silva
Full member: André Dias
Full member: Hugo Miguel Silva
Substitute member: Sara Costa Freitas

Release of results and prior hearing: the results of the selection process, as well as the terms and procedures for prior hearing, will be released to the applicants by email, under the terms referred to in Article 13 of the Regulations for Studentships and Fellowships of INESC TEC.

6. FORMALISATION OF APPLICATIONS:

Application Documents:
1. Motivation letter;
2. Curriculum Vitae (must include the list of previous fellowships, their type, beginning and end dates, funding entities and host institutions);
3. Certificate or diploma degree;
4. Proof of enrollment in a degree awarding study cycle or in a non degree awarding Higher Education program.
- The proof of enrollment may be presented just during the grant hiring stage.
5. Signed declaration stating the infringement of the grant holder's duties (article 14, no. 4)
6. Documental evidence to support the country of residence, residence permit or other legally equivalent document, in cases where the applicant is a foreigner or non-resident in Portugal - valid until the beginning of the grant.
7. Other supporting documents relevant to the final assessment.

Failure to deliver the required documents within the 90-day period after the date of the notice of the conditional awarding of the grant implies its cancellation.

Application period: From 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-15

Submission of applications: the application will be formalised by submitting the form available in the Work With Us section of INESC TEC website.

7. BINDING LEGISLATION AND REGULATION

The hiring process shall comply with the current legislation regarding the Research Grant Holder Statute, approved by Law no. 40/2004 of August 18, in its current wording, as well as by the Regulations for Grants of INESC TEC and for https://files.dre.pt/2s/2019/12/241000000/0009100105.pdfFCT Grants Regulation in force.

For more information, please check the Regulations for Grants of INESC TEC and relevant annexes at www.inesctec.pt/bolsas